You cannot "finger" an individual on this list of great organizations
which claim to be in the business of distributing information. It
hasn't always been that way and indeed the Unix system was devised
with the idea of sharing information. I realize that there was a
security bug in the "finger" command but this can be corrected. And
here is a bit of hypocrisy. My friends at some of those organizations
tell me they finger persons elsewhere!

So let me urge you to ask the systems folks at your institution to
re-install the finger command. Let's use our computers as God intended
them to be used.

We have just finished a beta version of a program called Xnetlib.
Xnetlib offers users the same functionality as Netlib but uses an X
Window graphical user interface and a socket mechanism to process
software requests more rapidly.

To receive a copy of this experimental software send a message to
netlib@ornl.gov of the form: send xnetlib.shar from xnetlib.
When you receive the shar file, remove the mail header, save it to a
file, type 'sh filename' and follow the instructions in the README
file.

I am in the process of writing an essay on "The definition
of numerical analysis." I consider this to be not just a
philosophical matter but one with historical and practical
implications.

Would NA-netters who have encountered particularly interesting
discussions of this question in print be so kind as to send me
a reference? I'd be happy to email a draft of my essay to
anyone who may be interested.

The votes of the 1991 SIAM Election have been counted (and re-counted)
and the results are:

PRESIDENT-ELECT AVNER FRIEDMAN

(One-year term: January 1 to December 31, 1992. The President-Elect
will also serve two years as President, January 1, 1993 to December 31,
1994, and one year as Past-President, January 1 to December 31, 1995.)

Following Pete Stewart's suggestions (NA Digest, Volume 91, Issue 39,
`FTPing Technical Reports') I have made my recent technical reports
available by anonymous FTP. Also available are the latest version of
my MATLAB collection of test matrices (Version 1.3, November 14,
1991), and some M-files for direct search optimization.

The Internet address is 130.88.16.10 and the files are in pub/higham.
The file `contents' contains a list of contents and `abstracts'
contains the same list together with abstracts.

There will be a series of 7 talks on numerical analysis
by six speakers from Bath and Bristol and one by
our guest speaker Jan Verwer from Amsterdam. Details
may be found on the notice board outside the school office.
Spare copies of the announcment are in the school office.

Professor Noufissa Mikou has sent me an announcement of the
"Premieres Journees Marocaines de Matheamtiques Appliquees"
organized by the faculty of Sciences of Rabat and l'Ecole
Mohammedia d'Ingenieurs(Rabat) to be held on 15-16-17 July, 1992 in Rabat.

The principal object is to get together researchers and uses interested
in multiple aspects of applied mathematics.

People interested in participating should send a title and abstract by
February 29, 1992 to her:

Very recently I received a letter from Prof. D. Bainov, which brought the
first announcement of International Colloquium on Numerical Analysis in
August, 1992. Since it might not be widely known, I like to record it
for interested colleagues. The announcement follows:

The First International Colloquium on Numerical Analysis will be organized
by the Institute of Mathematics of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Plovdiv
University "Paissii Hilendarski", Filial Technical University - Plovdiv,
Scientific Institute on Pharmancy and Pharmacology, Union of Bulgarian
Mathematicians - Plovdiv Section, with the help of Direction des Etudes et
Recherches Electricite de France, and of the American Mathematical Society
and of Notices of the American Mathematical Society.

The participants in the Colloquium will be accommodated in hotel rooms with
two beds. The registration fee is $110. Detail about the location of the
Colloquium and the hotel will be given in the second announcement. The
working language of the Colloquium will be English and Russian.
The work of the Colloquium will proceed in the following sections:
1. Numerical methods of algebra. 2. Numerical method of approximation
theory. 3. Numerical methods for ordinary differential equations.
4. Numerical methods for partial differential equations.
The duration of the talk will be 20 min. If you intend to participate in
the Colloquium, please let us know not later than January 1st, 1992,
together with the number of the accompanying persons. If you wish to
deliver a talk, please send us an abstract by the same date. It should
be camera-ready: typed with a black carbon ribbon and up to one typewritten
page (the text should be in a frame 17x24 cm).

The persons who intend to participate in the Colloquium will be sent
the second announcement by May 1st, 1992.

The Linear Algebra Curriculum Study Group is organizing a special session
for the 1992 Joint Math Meetings in Baltimore. The session will be held
Thursday, January 9 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. One feature will be several
presentations by users of linear algebra from other fields. Another will
be the LACSG Proposed Syllabus for the First Course in Linear Algebra.
The syllabus will be presented and its rationale and novel features
highlighted. We would also like to have 10-15 minutes presentations by a
few faculty who have used the syllabus already and can comment on its
strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. If you have used our syllabus,
and would be interested in sharing your experiences in this way, please
contact one of the following LACSG organizers:
Dave Carlson, Mathematical Sciences Department, San Diego State University,
San Diego, CA 92182, 619-594-6670, carlson@math.sdsu.edu
Charles Johnson, Mathematics Department, College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, VA 23187, 804-221-2014, CRJOHN@WMVM1.BITNET
David Lay, Mathematics Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
20742, 301-405-5136, lay@math.umd.edu
Duane Porter, Mathematics Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
82071, 307-766-3395, adporter@CORRAL.UWYO.EDU

I am currently aware of a number of message passing systems for
multicomputers and multiprocessors including PICL, M4, TCGMSG, Zipcode,
LMPS, nCUBE Vertex, Intel NX/1, Intel NX/2, Reactive Kernel, Express/CroS.

I would be interested to have articles, reports, references, describing
rationale, features and related information about these and other
message passing systems. I want to create a comprehensive article
describing the structure, rationale, capabilities/deficiencies and
differences of such systems, and explore the degree to which they can
be looked upon in a uniform taxonomy. My interest is not limited to
multiprocessors and multicomputers, per se, so if you have written any
message passing system, or have related information, please send it to
me. This study is meant to lead to standard interfaces of
interest to programmers of medium-grain message-passing machines
(multicomputers), and parallel mathematical libraries, as a specific example.

If you know of message-passing systems, please send me info about
i) calling sequences (C and Fortran, if applicable)
ii) message semantics, side effects and design goals
iii) underlying process and programming model/scope
iv) known uses
v) perceived limitations and advantages of the design
vi) instrumentation, debugging and support capabilities
vii) where to find primary references on subject software
viii) where to find code if freely available

It is also likely if you have written multicomputer applications a
parallel kernel or numerical test code, that you have LAYERED on top of
someone's (eg, vendor) system. I would also like to know about such
layers, as they constitute an important aspect of the process of
programming multicomputers. Again, I would be interested in items i) -
viii) .

I am writing this note to solicit reprints/preprints for a book that I
am writing. The book is called Frankenstein In The Machine
It is aimed at being a fairly comprehensive study of the role of
high performance computing in medicine/biology/dentistry/allied health
sciences. The book is in its final stages of organization. I am trying
to make the book relatively comprehensive. I am looking for the following
items:

(1)Color pictures/black and white graphics (slides/prints) of actual
results. Same areas are
-medical imaging
-molecular visualization
-simulation visualization
-microscopy
-medical visualization
but are not limited to these areas. I will make copies of anything
sent to me and gladly return it to you. In addition, I will
acknowledge all figures used in the book. If you send pictures, please
include appropriate citation/legend

(3)Names and addresses of individuals working in areas related to the
above and who might be interested in contributing to it.

I am trying to make this as complete a book as possible and do not
wish to commit the faux pas of forgetting someone, if at all possible.
Please feel free to circulate copies of this note, to repost copies of
this note, and to discuss the book with others. I am setting an end
of July 1992 target for receipt of materials. However, I am willing to
be flexible if necessary. If you are interested in being kept informed
about this project, please also let me know.

My contact information is below. Please feel free to contact me if you
have any further questions.

SIXTH INTERNATIONAL WORKING CONFERENCE ON
SCIENTIFIC AND STATISTICAL DATABASE MANAGEMENT

ETH
Centro Stefano Franscini Switzerland, June 9 - 11, 1992

The Conference
This international conference provides a forum for the presentation and
exchange of current work in the field of scientific and statistical database
management. Its workshop character, together with a quiet meeting place on
Monte Verita in southern Switzerland, will provide a climate to stimulate
discussion and the exchange of ideas.

We are particularly soliciting papers on new concepts, novel ideas, and
state-of-the-art research results relevant to database and knowledge base
design from a theoretical as well as applicative point of view. To encourage
the dialog between practitioners and researchers we invite contributions also
from domain-scientists, reporting experiences in data management from their
field. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: modelling and
semantics, query languages and user interfaces, physical organization,
security, scientific databases, data analysis and visualization, management
of temporal and spatial data, evaluation of scientific, engineering, or
statistical applications.

Submission of Papers
Authors are requested to submit five copies of the complete paper, not
exceeding 20 pages, as follows (electronic submissions using latex
acceptable).

Contributions from the American continents to:
James C. French, North-American Co-Chairman.

All other contributions to:
Hans Hinterberger, General Chairman.

Time Schedule
December 15, 1991 Deadline for submission of papers.
April 10, 1992 Notification of acceptance.
May 22, 1992 Deadline for final paper to be included in proceedings.

Co-Chair
James C. French
Institute for Parallel Computation, School of Engineering and Applied Science,
Thornton Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA;
e-mail: french@virginia.edu.

CALL FOR PAPERS
THIRD IMA CONFERENCE ON MATHEMATICS IN SIGNAL PROCESSING
University of Warwick 15th - 17th December 1992
Co-sponsored by the IEE, IOP and IEEE

Signal processing still constitutes a major growth area for the
application of mathematical concepts and techniques. The last IMA
conference on this subject was held in Dec 1988 and the intervening
years have witnessed a rapid growth of interest in several new topics
such as wavelets, nonlinear signal processing, neural networks and the
design of parallel algorithms. The aim of this meeting is to bring
together mathematicians and engineers with a view to exploring these
recent developments and identifying fruitful avenues for further
research. It is hoped that the conference will also help to attract
more mathematicians into this exciting and important field.

The conference will comprise a keynote address and six non-overlapping
sessions each featuring

(a) five or six spoken papers with some tutorial content

(b) a related poster session for more specific research papers.

Keynote Speaker: Prof.J.Proakis, Northeastern University, Boston

Contributed papers are invited on all aspects of mathematical signal
processing and will be accepted on the basis of a 300-500 word summary
which should be submitted by 31 March 1992. Authors will be advised of
acceptance by 1 June 1992 and final papers should be handed in by the
date of the conference. The majority of contributed papers will be
presented in the poster sessions.

It is intended that the conference proceedings will be published
by Oxford University Press as a hard bound volume based on camera
ready copy. All papers received on time and in the required
format will be eligible for inclusion subject to review.

The social programme will include a civic reception at the Museum
of British Road Transport, Coventry, an optional visit to the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford and a conference banquet
at the University of Warwick.

If you would like to submit a paper in Computational Techniques session
for the up coming 8th NASECODE conference to be held in the Club City,
Vienna, May 18-22, 1992, then you may mail your papers directely to
Dr. Rakesh K. Sharma (sharma@math.niu.edu), Dept. of Mathematics,
Northern Illinois University, IL 60115. The last date for submitting
the papers is Feb. 15, 1992.
Papers to be sent in this session should be on Numerical Methods
for Partial Differential Equations.

The September 1992 issue of CG&A will be devoted to the topic of Computer
Aided Geometric Design. Surveys, tutorials and technical papers covering
all areas of this topic are solicited. Areas of interest include:

Manuscripts should be approximately 5000 words with approximately 10
references. Papers must not have been previously published or currently
submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts should have a title
page that includes the title of the paper, full name(s) and affiliation(s)
of its author(s), complete physical and electronic address(es), telephone
number(s), a 300-word abstract.

Deadlines

* 300-word abstract of the manuscript is due as soon as possible.
* Five(5) copies of the full manuscript are due by January 1, 1992.
* Notification of acceptance is April 1, 1992.
* Final version of the manuscript is due not late than May 1, 1992.

Scope
The Institute aims to bring together leading researchers involved in the
design of large scale and real-time computations, and practitioners from
industry and academia. It seeks to provide a forum to address and discuss
the state of the art, as well as the needs for the future. The Institute
will feature invited tutorial sessions as well as contributed papers, with
ample time for informal workshops and discussion.

This meeting is a successor to a previous ASI, `Numerical Linear Algebra,
Digital Signal processing and Parallel Algorithms', Leuven,
Belgium, August 1988.

Venue
The Institute will be held at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven,
Belgium. Leuven can be easily reached from Brussels International Airport.
For the participants, dormitory rooms will be available on campus.
All attendees are expected to stay for the full duration of the Institute.

Applications
Participation is by invitation only. Persons wishing to make an application
to attend the Institute are invited to send five copies of a short vita
to the address given below. In addition, five copies of a one page abstract
are requested from those wishing to contribute a short paper. Application
forms can be obtained by E-mail or regular mail at the address given below.
The deadline for application is March 1st, though earlier applications are
especially welcomed. Notification will be given by April 15th.
Participants will be drawn from both NATO and non-NATO countries.

UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
LECTURESHIPS IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Applications are invited for a Lectureship in Mathematical Sciences and
for a Temporary Lectureship of three years duration, to be filled from 1st
October 1992 or as soon as possible after that date. The department is
committed to excellence in both research and teaching, and invites
applications from candidates with expertise in any area of Pure Mathematics,
Numerical Analysis or Statistics. The initial salaries are likely to be on
the Lecturer A scale (12690 pounds - 17593 pounds pa).

The Department of Mathematical Sciences has 28 academic staff: four
professors, four readers, five senior lecturers and fifteen lecturers. Two
posts are shared with the Physics Department and one with Collingwood College.
Research activities cover a wide range of topics in Pure Mathematics,
Numerical Analysis, Elementary Particle Theory and Statistics. There are
usually several Research Assistants and Visitors, and the SERC supports two
or three London Mathematical Society Durham Research Symposia each year.
These conferences provide a constant flow of mathematicians of the highest
calibre from all over the world to Durham.

Further details may be obtained from the Personnel Officer, Old Shire Hall,
Durham, DH1 3HP, (Tel: 091 374 3158), to whom applications should be returned
no later than 6th January 1992. Please quote reference AO56.

The Mathematics and Computational Sciences Department at Sandia
National Laboratories invites outstanding candidates to apply for the
1992 AMS Research Fellowship. The Fellowship is supported by the
Applied Mathematical Sciences Research Program of the U.S. Department
of Energy.

AMS Fellowships at Sandia provide an exceptional opportunity for
innovative research in scientific computing on advanced architectures,
and are intended to promote the transfer of technology from the
laboratory research environment to industry and academia through the
advanced training of new computational scientists. Candidates must be
U.S. citizens, must have earned a recent Ph.D. degree or the
equivalent, and must have a strong interest in advanced computing
research.

The Mathematics and Computational Science Department is affiliated
with DOE's Massively Parallel Computing Research Laboratory at Sandia
which provides a unique parallel computing environment, including a
1,024-processor nCUBE 2, a 64-processor Intel IPSC-860, and a
Connection Machine-2. In addition, Sandia maintains several large
Cray supercomputers. The Department has strong programs in
analytical, discrete, and computational mathematics, computational
physics and engineering, theoretical computer science, advanced
computational approaches for parallel computers, graphics, and
architectures and languages. Areas of particular interest for the
fellowship include massively parallel methods in direct and iterative
sparse matrix computations, numerical optimization, and symbolic
computation and massively parallel methods for the grand challenges;
however, all applicants will be considered.

The fellowship appointment is for a period of one year, and may be
renewed for a second year. It includes a highly competitive salary,
moving expenses, and a generous professional travel allowance.
Applicants should send a resume, a statement of research goals, and
three letters of recommendation to Robert H. Banks, Division 3531-AMS,
Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185.
The closing date for applications is December 13, 1991, and
prospective candidates will be invited to visit Sandia in early 1992.
The position will commence during 1992.

For further information contact Richard C. Allen, Jr. at (505) 845-
7825 or by e-mail, rcallen@cs.sandia.gov.